


oh how the mighty have fallen

by antheiabelle



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Crying, Gen, but you know gotta be safe, i Love ronnie i swear but bb is dealing w hiram at home rn, kinda? i just vaguely allude to jugs injuries, this is a Very Short Thing after 2x21, this is like archie-centric, very Emotional before he goes to stab stab hiram w ronnie and sweet pea bc thats what IM WAITING FOR
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 04:31:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14609379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antheiabelle/pseuds/antheiabelle
Summary: “Juggie,” he murmurs into Betty’s hair, tears blurring his vision. Her fingers curl into his shirt and maintain a white-knuckled grip. “Juggie, what did you do?”





	oh how the mighty have fallen

Archie feels as though the world has shifted on its axis and he is left stranded, unbalanced. Jughead’s smiling face is streaked with blood, and the ruined skin over his tattoo is a gruesome reflection of Penny Peabody. Beside him, Betty releases a heart-wrenching noise, legs giving out. Archie collapses with her, pulling her into his arms and turning his face into pristine blonde. 

Sweet Pea stands a few feet away, unmoving, and Archie reads the grief in the tense line of his body, grief mirrored in FP’s wavering expression. Behind them, his father pushes through the little crowd, nodding gently to Cheryl and Toni, who wear matching looks of horror, and squeezing Sweet Pea’s shoulder as he passes. Sweet Pea who just lost Fangs, Sweet Pea who is now on the brink of losing another. 

Archie desperately tries not to, but he zeroes in on Jughead’s limp, mangled body. A horrible, wounded whine, like a hurt animal, echoes through the clearing, and it takes Archie but a moment to recognize himself as the source. 

“Juggie,” he murmurs into Betty’s hair, tears blurring his vision. Her fingers curl into his shirt and maintain a white-knuckled grip. “Juggie, what did you do?”

Fred stops by FP, wraps an arm around his neck and lowers them all to the ground slowly. His hand passes through Jughead’s hair with agonizing gentleness; he had known this child since birth, essentially. Archie only cries harder. Betty feels so cold against him, shivering like a leaf in the wind. 

A hand in his hair shocks him back through the haze of _Jughead, Jughead, Jughead_ — 

“Hey, darling,” Cheryl says softly. Toni is wrapped in her arms, sobs muffled into her girlfriend’s hunting coat. “An ambulance has been called, and I contacted Veronica. At the very least, we’ll get him to a hospital.” 

“Okay,” Archie manages, and he sounds so small, _feels_ so frighteningly small.

Cheryl nods, casting a look at Jughead. Her face scrunches in pain, and she takes a shuddering breath before turning her attention to Toni, keeping the pieces of her Serpent together. 

“Betts,” Archie says finally, voice hoarse. It feels like an eternity has passed when, in reality, FP walked out of the woods with Jughead mere minutes earlier. “Betts, I need—I need to make sure that—that he’s—”

“Please,” Betty says, understanding Archie’s broken attempt at a sentence. “Please.” 

So Archie untangles himself from her and drags himself to Jughead’s side on his hands and knees. FP’s face is hidden in his father’s shoulder, and he makes no move when Archie’s quivering hand reaches for Jughead. His fingers skate through the blood on his cheek to his neck, scrabbling desperately for a pulse. For a horrible, panicked moment, Archie feels nothing. Then a faded thud fills his senses, a faint sign of life beating through the ruin that is now Jughead Jones. 

“Jughead,” he sobs, registering the sound of sirens behind him as their shitty town’s ambulance actually shows up for once. His elbows give out and he falls to the dirt, Jughead’s pulse still rocking through him. Fred thumbs gently at his son’s neck as his tears soak into the dirt. 

“Archie,” Betty calls despairingly. “Archie!” 

“He’s alive,” his dry, cracked throat pushes out. “He’s alive.” 

Sweet Pea breathes out harshly, knees hitting the ground as he covers his face with his hands. He puts himself together as best as he can while the ambulance skids to a stop besides a waving Cheryl. Gently, to avoid jostling Jughead, he shifts the broken boy from FP’s arms to his own and carries him to the vehicle. 

“Archie,” his father says, “Betty. Go with Jug and the kid. I’ll bring FP and the girls in the car behind you. 

Archie nods and forces himself to his feet. He and Betty shoulder each other’s weight and stumble to the ambulance, crawling into the back. He finds himself reaching for Jughead’s pulse just as Betty reaches for his. Sweet Pea’s shoulder is strong where it’s pressed against Archie’s. None of them move until they reach they chaotic hospital. 

The nightmare that is getting Jughead into surgery, especially with the recent murder of Dr. Masters, passes in a haze. In the waiting room, Betty and Archie curl around each other on the floor, half on each other’s laps. Sweet Pea sits in a chair behind them, and hesitantly extends a hand to squeeze the base of Archie’s neck. 

“We’ll get them,” he promises. “We’ll get every single one of them.” 

Damn straight. 

“Yeah,” Archie breathes stickily. “Starting with Hiram Lodge.”

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello i'm an emotional bean. also i'm not sure how canonically sensible any of this is bc i've skipped around a lot so i don't have a great grasp of the characters? i just wanted to write a Sad before archie, sweet pea, and ronnie kick hiram's scrawny ass :) 
> 
> tumblr: @litttlewings


End file.
